Here, Have a Retry
by frostychicken
Summary: Uchiha Madara's suicidal jutsu destroyed everything. He made a slight miscalculation and couldn't destroy Uzumaki Naruto, nor could he destroy the Will of Fire. With nothing remaining but four companions, Naruto has the chance to go back in time to fix whatever he can. This time, Naruto made the slight miscalculation. TIME TRAVEL.
1. Chapter 1

Uzumaki Naruto stood above the rubble staring at the battlefield in agony. Gone. Everything he loved, everyone he loved, gone. The smoke was still softly lingering in the air (strong despite the soft sprinkle of rain that was cleansing the bloodbath) from the aftereffects of Madara's suicidal jutsu, and the constant terrified shouting of his people ceased to exist. The Rokudaime Hokage mourned for the loss of his people, his home.

He closed his eyes and slowly turned his face upwards, the rain mingling with his tears. Naruto dropped to his knees and sobbed.

 _Do not lose hope, brat,_ the soft rumble of Kurama's voice resonated within Naruto.

"How can I not?" The Hokage whispered, "Everything we worked for is gone."

 _There is a slight disturbance towards your left, go._ Although the Nine Tails orders were unclear, Naruto heeded them as he trusted Kurama with his life. Not that there was anything left to live for. He got up and looked towards his left. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

The rubble there was moving.

Using his last burst of chakra and ignoring Kurama's _Do not waste your chakra, brat!,_ Naruto threw the three pronged kunai as hard as he could. Within moments, the kunai landed on its target and a yellow flash warped the surrounding air as Naruto disappeared.

The Rokudaime Hokage promptly reappeared where the kunai landed. Naruto grabbed the kunai and was about to throw it again when he felt the tell tail pull of the seal for the Hiraishin and he automatically went on the defensive. Just like his father had advised, Naruto had marked all of his comrades with the seal... While fighting with his enemies, he also marked them to give himself an advantage.

Now, however, he had no idea if the person who was marked was a friend or foe. The pull for the jutsu was strong, but the realization that he may have a companion was the stronger.

"So..." Naruto heard the drawl and the rubble moved more. "Freaking..." a hand shot out from the bottom. "Troublesome." The catchphrase that he was so accustomed to caught his attention more than the hand sticking out from the ground. Naruto's heart leaped in his chest.

So that's why the pull was so strong!

The groan became louder and it sounded as if the person in question was in more pain. Within seconds Naruto was moving the rocks away from the person.

"I got you, Shika! Hang on!" He grunted as the rocks moved. Using sheer strength (Kurama was too tired to do anything but talk) Naruto had his Jounin Commander freed from his prison. Holding his hand out, he pulled Nara Shikamaru out and helped him lean against the boulder that was caging him, the stench of blood strong.

Naruto didn't comment as the cold tip of a kunai touched the back of his neck. He expected Shikamaru to question him, and silently applauded his Jounin Commander for his shrewdness.

"How do I know you're truly Naruto and not an impostor?" The soft tone the Nara used did not surprise him and the Hokage hid his grin. This was the tone Shikamaru used moments before assassinating his prisoners.

"I suppose I'm not surprised you're able to keep me at kunai-point regardless of being trapped in those rocks for Kami knows how long, dattebayo." The Rokudaime Hokage closed his eyes and sighed.

"I don't care what you think," Shikamaru growled and slowly pushed the kunai a little deeper. "Who are you?"

"I should have you killed for attempted assassination of your Hokage, Shika-chan, but I understand the situation to prove myself." _C'mon Kurama, I gotta borrow your power just for a moment and you can go back to resting my furry friend._

Naruto promptly changed into his Nine Tails Chakra Cloak and the transformation was enough proof for the Nara as he hurriedly dropped his kunai.

"Forgive me, Lord Hokage."

"Shut up, Shika. Now, prove to me that you are, indeed, my Jounin Commander," Naruto smiled a foxy smile. Because of the sensing abilities that came with Sage Mode and Nine Tails Chakra Cloak, Naruto knew for a fact that this was Shikamaru; he just felt like pulling the Jounin Commander's tail.

"When you appointed me as your Jounin Commander, everyone was shocked as they all had assumed Sasuke would be your right hand." Shikamaru drawled and after seeing the grin on Naruto's face, narrowed his eyes. "But you already knew I was telling the truth about my identity so I didn't need to prove it anyways."

He groaned in pain as he held the side of his chest, "this injury is such a drag."

"I don't know much about medical jutsu, but let's get you healed," Naruto helped the Nara sit down on the ground and get comfortable.

"I was taken out by a reanimation of my Father and Asuma, so I was out of it for a little while. What happened?" Shikamaru questioned and winced as his wound began to heal itself under Naruto's green chakra hands.

"Other than the bloodbath? Madara knew he had no chance of survival with the combined Odama Rasengan and Amaterasu fueled Chidori me and Sasuke were about to hit him with, so he used a suicidal jutsu to take all of us out with him. I told Sasuke to get out of the way, but the idiot didn't listen to me."

"Of course he didn't; now _that_ is punishable by death. Defying a direct order from the Hokage? He's lucky he died in combat," Shikamaru sneered and Naruto barked out a laugh.

"You don't hid your dislike of the Uchiha, do you?" The usage of Sasuke's last name did not go unnoticed by Shikamaru and he mentally noted to ask his Hokage why he disdainfully said _Uchiha._ But for now, Nara Shikamaru formulated his words carefully.

"He's a traitor to the village and to my Hokage, of course I _dislike_ him," the Jounin Commander emphasized the _dislike._ "He has no right to act like we'd welcome him back with open arms."

"The thing is, we would've welcome him back," Naruto sighed in regret at his former childishness.

"What changed?" Shikamaru asked in his natural drawl-y tone.

"The concept of priorities," the Hokage replied. "I realized I couldn't prioritize his return to the village over the village itself. He would have been a great asset to the village, yes, but Sasuke was too focused on destroying the village to be of much help."

"Wow, I can't say I'm surprised," Shikamaru grinned. "You truly _are_ the number one unpredictable hyper active ninja. When did this epiphany come to you?"

Naruto smirked. "When I was out there busting ass and pummeling Madara's face in. I remembered the Idiot's words on how he would help me kill Madara and then destroy the entire village." He stopped the flow of green chakra to his hands and sat back. "This is as much as I can do for now, Shika. We have to scrounger for some soldier pills."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Shikamaru took in a deep breath.

"You _are_ my Jounin Commander, I can't have you dying, too." The implications in that sentence silenced both Naruto and Shikamaru. Both men sat in silence, remembering their fallen teammates for what seemed like moments when they heard a panting noise.

In seconds, they both stood up. Although he was woozy, Shikamaru stood tall in front of Naruto, kunai raised.

"Akamaru! There's no one there!" A familiar voice called out in frustration. "What's gotten into you?! I told you they're all gone!" The noise got louder and footsteps were upon them.

"Kiba-kun, it is possible that Akamaru has sniffed someone else in our vicinity! We will do well to follow him!" The unmistakable voice was Rock Lee was heard as well and both men bristled in anger. _Who_ dare pretend to be Rock Lee and Kiba?

Bracing themselves for an enemy, the Jonin Commander and Rokudaime Hokage were shocked to see Kiba, Akamaru, and Rock Lee in front of them.

Recognizing his ANBU subordinate, Shikamaru still did not let his guard down. He had been wary with his Hokage, better safe than sorry. Within seconds, while Naruto had Lee in a choke-hold, Shikamaru trapped Kiba in his Shadow Possession Jutsu and called out "Report!"

"ANBU Codename Beast, registration number 030528, reporting in, Lord Hokage and Jounin Commander, Sir!" Kiba called out and stared Shikamaru straight in the eyes.

"Where is your ANBU tattoo?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"On my shoulder, Sir!"

"Where is your pup's tattoo?" Shikamaru was wise to call the Inuzuka's Companion a pup; only the real Kiba would be offended by the term.

"His tattoo is located in place of a collar and he is not a pup, Sir! He is my Companion!" Kiba was still in reporting mode and shouted all of his responses which had Naruto wincing at his loudness.

Shikamaru let Naruto question Lee as Lee was head of Civilian and Shinobi Relations as well as the Taijutsu Specialist.

"What were my last words to you before we left home base?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. Because he had used up the last of his chakra on the Hiraishin and Nine Tails Chakra Cloak, he had to do this the manual way. It would not do well if Lee answered this incorrectly.

"Lord Hokage-sama, you told me _'the will of fire is something that is carried within the next generation. We have to protect them at all costs.'_ " Lee recounted and his heart pounded at the nervousness he felt at his Hokage's silence.

Naruto knew Lee was correct, but just in case, he asked another question. "What were my words when Tsunade baa-chan died in my arms?"

"Forgive me, Lord Hokage, but that question is invalid. Lady Tsunade did not die in your arms, she died a noble death while in combat." At this, Naruto relaxed his hold on Lee and grinned.

Shikamaru averted his eyes to Naruto and a slight tilt of his Hokage's head had the Jounin Commander releasing the jutsu that kept Kiba captive. Shikamaru panted from the loss of his chakra and he gave the Inuzuka an apologetic smile. "Release. Sorry Kiba, I said to see if you were the real deal."

"That's fine, Shikamaru." Kiba pop his neck. "Man, am I glad to see you two as well. Like I was asking Lee, did you see Madara's insane jutsu?"

At Naruto's and Shikamaru's nod of agreement, Kiba asked the question they all had been wondering. "Now what?"

"What do we do now?" Naruto echoed. "We're the only ones alive in this area." It was silent for a moment, then-

 _Naruto, what if I told you I had a way to fix all this._

"Shut it Kurama, there is no way to fix this," the Hokage muttered and his companions looked away.

 _What if I told you I could bring you back before any of this happened so you could fix all you wanted to?_ The Nine Tails softly proposed.

"What do you mean?" There was hope in Naruto's voice that had Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, and Akamaru looking at him in shock.

 _A sealing jutsu only known to the Tailed Beasts. I can use it only once to bring you back to the past so you can save all your friends once more._

"Kurama says he can bring us to the past so we can fix everything, but that's not possible, right?" Naruto let out in nervously.

"With what we've seen Madara do, this seems plausible," the Jonin Commander narrowed his eyes. "But is that a risk we're willing to take?"

"We've lost everything as it is, what will this do? It's worth a try," Kiba put in and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Naruto-kun, we cannot rest until we have tired all options!" Lee chimed in and Naruto made up his mind. If the remainder of his people were in agreement to go back in to the past, as Hokage, he could comply.

"Let's do it, Kurama!"

 _I've been molding my chakra for a while now. I knew what your answer would be. Hold hands with your comrades, kit._

"Lee, Shika, Kiba, keep Akamaru on you and make a circle!" The Shinobi complied with their Hokage's command with no hesitance. The wind started billowing harder. "H _old hands!"_

There was a shining bright light.

"Naruto what the hell is going on?!" Kiba shouted into the void, but clenched his hands.

The sudden bright light blinded them all and with a Hiraishin-like yellow flash, the remaining Shinobi were no more.

* * *

 **I know, I knowwww I need to update** _ **The Boys Next Door,**_ **but here, have a Naruto.**

edited: 12/27/15


	2. Chapter 2

**disclaimer: naruto is not mine**

* * *

Nara Shikamaru woke up with a pounding headache. He sat up (his body felt lighter than he remembered) and leaned against something hard, rubbing his eyes. He did a mental injury sweep found the results immensely unsatisfying. The pain in his eyes was so bad, it was something akin to Naruto drilling a _goddamned rasengan_ into each of his eyeballs nonstop. He kept his eyes closed, rolling them, trying to lessen the pain. When that didn't work, he brought his hands up to rub his palms against his face.

As he did that, he noticed that the hard callouses on his fingers and palms were noticeably missing; instead of well-seasoned shinobi hands, he had the hands of someone who was learning how to hold a kunai. Hell, he wondered if he could even grip a kunai properly right now. With his condition, he could barely sit up straight, much less walk or gather Intel. It took a while for him to regain his senses, but when he slowly opened his eyes again, he choked on his spit.

 _Maybe this is the aftereffect of whatever the giant fur ball did,_ he tried placating himself after overcoming his initial shock. _Madara was a downright little bastard to even attempt to defeat, and he pulled things outta his ass that only Naruto could counter,_ the Nara logically began. _If he could bring back the dead, then it's clearly plausible that the Nine Tails could send us back in time._ Praying to all that was Holy, and whatever his mother used to pray to, that _this wasn't what he thought it was,_ the Jounin Commander tried to come up with other outcomes _._

But Nara Shikamaru was a genius. A genius with an IQ over 200. A genius who was rarely wrong; thus he was the Hokage's right hand man.

 _What a drag,_ he groaned. He had no reason to throw out the _goddamned time travel_ theory (as insane as it was). After all, the proof was concrete, within his grasp.

The room was just as he remembered. He quickly scanned his bedroom, noting all and any escape routes. It may be insane, scanning his _bedroom_ of all places, but he learned lessons (the hard way) as Jounin Commander the perils of underestimating one's environment. Even with places one frequently visited, escape routes were a must.

The Commander was sitting on his bed, the hard thing he was leaning against was the headboard. He tilted his head and looked out from the window- the sun had almost finished rising and he remembered what time it would shortly be in the Nara Clan house.

It would be breakfast time, and his banshee of a mother (a term that he regretted calling her to her dying day as she jumped in front of a killing jutsu meant _for him_ ) would scream his name from the kitchen around two times before coming into his room with killing intent and dragging him to the dining room.

He turned his head to the door.

" _Shikamaru_!" Ahh, there was the sweet screech of his mother. He smiled softly at her voice. It had been a long time since he last heard her. "If you're not down here in _five minutes,_ I swear to Kami, the Sandime Hokage will be one genin short!"

He snorted at her threat and paused. She said _Sandime_ and _genin_ _,_ so the time that he was currently in would be before the Chunnin Exams. He clearly remembered the death of the Sandime. That meant he was still a genin with Ino and Choji, assigned to... _Asuma._

Shikamaru exhaled loudly. The premature death of his sensei was on the list of things he regretted. The birth of Asuma's son, was the only event that brought Shikamaru out of his private depression that he never told anyone. Seeing Asuma again would be nerve wracking.

He knew walking into the kitchen and seeing his mother again would be hard, but the more he thought about it, the harder it seemed to get. It was like ripping off a band-aid- he'd have to do it fast, so he got off the bed and stretched.

Rather, that was the plan. Instead of standing with the finesse of a Jounin Commander, he stumbled on his feet. _Right, I don't have my adult body anymore._

Shikamaru slowly made his way to the mirror on his wall, scrunching his nose at his appearance.

 _Awww man,_ he internally whined. _I'm a shorty again._ The only thing that lifted his sour mood was the fact that he was, at least, taller than Naruto. The Rokudaime _had_ gotten his growth spurt and towered over the Rookie 12, but as of now, if Shikamaru was right (and he always was), Naruto would be as short as hell. And annoying, _what a drag._

" _Shikamaru!"_ His mother called again in warning and the Jounin Commander made note that she would start walking to his room in ten minutes after this summon.

He moved around a bit and once he could properly walk, he changed into his day clothes (which felt weird as _hell_ because all he wore once he made Chunnin was the standard green vest and black pants) and tied his hitai-ate to his arm before leaving.

As he made his way to the dining room, and subsequently, his seat, he smiled at the nostalgic memories that went through his mind. He was so engrossed in the past (which was a shame because he was the _freaking_ _Jounin Commander)_ he missed the initial look of shock on his parent's faces.

"Shikamaru?" His mother looked at him in surprise. "You're awake already?" She gazed at him in wonder. His father didn't say anything, but thoughtfully studied him.

"Shikaku!" His mother exclaimed. "Your son is _awake and in the dining room without me having to drag him down here!"_

"What?" Shikamaru asked (and blushed because his voice was _so high pitched, Kami help him)_ , his face the picture of innocence, but internally he was slapping himself. _Dammit, I'm already blowing my cover. I have to pretend to be the lazy Shikamaru, not the Jounin Commander I am._

"I'm a genin of Konoha, and even though it's a drag, I'll have to become responsible sooner or later," he drawled, throwing in the _it's a drag_ for safe measure. "Besides, I really don't wanna emulate Kakashi, of all people, with my tardiness." He finished his spiel, softly muttered _itadakimas,_ and took a bite of his food.

His parents didn't say anything, and took to staring at him instead.

"Are you sure you're okay, Shika?" His mother softly asked him. "With what happened yesterday, we don't want anything drastic to happen to you." _Something drastic?_ Shikamaru's mind went one hundred miles per hour trying to figure out what exactly happened the day before _when he wasn't even in_ _ **this**_ _Konoha but fighting within an inch of his life._ There was nothing wrong with playing dumb to gather Intel, so that's exactly what he did.

"It's inevitable," he shrugged, well aware of his father's calculating eyes. "I'm a shinobi." The ' _it was bound to happen'_ was left unspoken. The Jounin Commander stuck his pointer finger to his ear and prayed to all that was Holy once more, _please let this be an opener for me to figure out what happened._

Instead of answering, his father make a tsking noise. _Hm, seems like the Old Man is suspicious,_ Shikamaru made a mental note to be careful around his father. _He's not the current Jounin Commander for no reason._

"It's interesting how you speak about that boy's first kill as if it were your own, Shika," his father began in a soft voice. _What in the world?_

"You speak as if you've killed also, but that isn't possible as the highest ranking mission you've been on is a D rank."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru began, "does it matter if it's _my_ first kill or my fellow Leaf nin's?" _Dammit, he's cornered me without even_ _ **trying.**_

"I suppose not," his father leaned back in his chair. "But, the fact that you've clearly changed from lazy to slightly productive is commendable." He began eating and the Rokudaime Hokage's Jounin Commander released a sigh of relief. _He probably let me off the hook right now, but he's gonna observe me. It'll be troublesome to constantly hide my abilities in front of him._

"You would've thought it'd be _troublesome_ to focus on being an actual ninja," his mother teased him. "If I were on active duty when you were younger, you wouldn't've been _this_ lazy!" She snorted and Shikamaru got a glimpse of the 'uncouth woman' his father so lovingly called his mother.

"Just don't think we expect you to become some killing machine," his mother smiled at him and added on, "that's the job of the demon fox."

Nara Shikamaru stood up before he could stop himself. It was a knee-jerk reaction. _She insulted his Hokage._

"You will _not_ call Uzumaki Naruto the _demon fox,_ " he sneered in anger, unable to control himself.

"Sit down, Shikamaru!" His mother commanded him and once again, he saw the Jounin within her make her presence known.

"Why should I when you've so clearly insulted him?" The future Jounin Commander was seething in anger. Anger that he should've reigned in and kept under control. Anger that clued his father in on this Shikamaru as not really his son, but his son.

"You should not know that Uzumaki Naruto is the container of the Nine Tails," his father spoke. "Unless he told you, this is an S class secret that _no one_ other than his jounin instructor should know."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru played dumb- it was his only solution to fix his mistake.

"If he told you and anyone else, he broke an S class secret, which is punishable by death for both parties involved." His mother calmly stated and added on, "I hope you're not getting into things you shouldn't be, Shika."

"Don't worry about it," Shikamaru lazily said. "He's my friend, so I just got heated when you said that."

His parents didn't look convinced and Shikamaru signed internally. _It'll be extremely troublesome to get them off my back, dammit._ After eating his breakfast, he spoke.

"I have to go buy some supplies and meet up with the rest of Team 10," he stood up from his seat and walked to the kitchen. After washing his plate (his mother's face was dumbfounded and he had to remind himself that younger, lazy Shikamaru did not wash the dishes dammit) and went back to where his parent's were still eating.

"I'll be home later, see ya."

His father's calculating eyes followed him on his way out and the Rokudaime Hokage's Jounin Commander's back was ramrod straight as he walked out. Just because he was physically stuck in his genin body, didn't mean he wasn't mentally a Jounin Commander.

He'd have to be extremely careful around his parents. He'd acted too differently than his younger self and his father was wary of him. Hopefully the rest were having better luck.

 _What a freaking drag._

* * *

Contrary to Shikamaru's hopeful and happy thoughts, Uzumaki Naruto was in fact, _not_ having better luck. The Rokudaime Hokage (also) woke up with a headache that felt like Sakura was clobbering him for reading _Icha Icha_ (Naruto couldn't help it, once he read a bit, he found out _exactly_ why Kakashi read the books as religiously as he did).

After the headache-that-rivaled-Sakura's-punches finally went away, Naruto noticed where he was. In the apartment the Third had leased for him. Naruto also noticed he was wearing his little froggy beanie and pajamas, and he felt a foot shorter than he normally felt. The ground seemed a lot closer to him than he remembered. He squinted at his hands, trying to figure out what changed, when it hit him. _The apartment. The froggy beanie. The absence of Kurama._

Naruto quickly sat in a meditating pose and clenched his eyes shut. He breathed in and out, remembering what Killer B told him to do if he ever wanted to talk to the Fox.

" _Oi, Kurama,"_ he mentally called out. _"Where are you, ya lump?"_ Naruto was just kidding about the name-calling (as it would cause a quicker reaction from the Fox than a simple question), but began to worry as Kurama did not answer back. He opened his eyes again and quickly channeled chakra to his stomach. When the seal shone brightly, he narrowed his eyes.

 _Where was the Bijuu?_ He tried contacting the Fox again and when Kurama replied, he felt elated.

" _Kurama!"_ Naruto gleefully exclaimed.

" _I do not have much energy, Kit,"_ came the gravely voice of the Fox.

" _Are we where I think we are?"_ Naruto excitedly asked him and the Fox snorted in amusement.

" _Yes, Rokudaime-chan,"_ Kurama teased. " _I've brought you back to before the Chunnin exams. That should be sufficient time for you to do whatever you wish. The others are also... adequately safe."_

" _Are you okay, though?"_

" _Kit, I am fine. Let me rest and gather my chakra and I will be strong once more. That specific jutsu costs the user their life, but as I am the Nine Tailed Fox, an exception was made. Use this time wisely."_ With that, Kurama retreated into Naruto's mind and began to hibernate. With the Fox asleep, Naruto began to think.

Now, Uzumaki Naruto was not made Rokudaime Hokage just because it was his life long dream (it was), but because within the time of him training with Jiraiya and the Fourth Shinobi War, he began using his brain (more so than usual). As a brawler and an on the spot thinker, Naruto was dangerous. As a brawler and tactician, Naruto was near impossible to fight.

When he was made temporary Hokage after defeating Pein (Tsunade-baa-chan was still in a coma, something Naruto should've prevented because she shouldn't've had to fight Pein by herself in the first place), the council thought the Damiyo was insane. A sixteen year old boy, (forget the fact that he was an S ranked Shinobi, because who else would've been able to defeat Pein? Even Jiraiya failed!) never mind his rank, was _not_ fit to lead a village as great as Konohagakure. He was a mere boy!

The villagers, on the other hand, were ecstatic. There was no one better suited to be temporary Hokage, as Kakashi of the Sharingan was still recovering and Lady Hokage was in a coma. After all, Naruto was the one who beat Pein and saved the village. He was the one who created a thousand Kage Bunshin after his grueling fight to help the villagers and ninja trapped in the rubble.

Some of the merchants and shopkeepers felt bad about how they treated the boy days prior, when he completely discarded whatever they had said and helped them in their time of need. The boy's character shone from not only his words, but actions. Oh yes, he was better suited to lead than the old man covered in bandages.

After Tsunade recovered from her coma and saw how _fit_ Naruto was for the job, she was reluctant and slow in taking the reigns back. Over the months before the Fourth Shinobi War broke out, she was slowly letting Naruto lead, make the decisions, and fill out the paperwork. When she was confident he was well-versed in the job, she handed the hat to him.

So, to say the Rokudaime Hokage was only chosen because he was the last resort, would be a slap in the face. Uzumaki Naruto was the Rokudaime and he was the best Rokudaime the village ever saw. He used his head and was calm when making decisions, just as he was calm right now.

Kurama had assured him the others were safe. Naruto had no doubt they were also in their homes as he had woken up in his, and Kurama wouldn't lie to him. Now, he was back in time and while he was mentally mature, he wasn't at his peak physically.

Everything went batshit crazy after Sasuke was bitten in the Forest of Death. If Naruto could stop that in this time line, he would save his best friend _and_ have a great asset for future use (when he reclaimed the hat as Rokudaime). If he couldn't prevent Sasuke from being bitten, then it would be of no loss, as Naruto could always kill him in future battles (he always had the power, he just refused to use it).

Now that he knew where he was, and what he could expect to happen, Naruto talked to his calendar where he was sure he marked what he had to do for the day. Old Man Jiji had advised him to keep a daily planner to keep track of everything and Naruto took that to heart.

As a seasoned Shinobi and Hokage, his calendar looked something like: _meeting with the old bats at 10 (pull a Kaka-sensei), visit the_ _Academy_ _for taijutsu demonstration at 2._

As a green genin, his calendar looked like: _prank Glasses and Mustache before meeting up with Team 7 by 9 at the bridge, ramen, practice some taijutsu, prank SOME MORE._

Thank Kami he got into that habit as the calendar saved his life. Naruto wobbly got up and did his morning routine before dressing (he wore a black shirt with black pants because as much as he loved his jumpsuit, he was a green genin who had to wear black. Once he made jounin or Hokage would he wear the modified version of his beloved jumpsuit again as no one would question a powerful Shinobi on their eccentric manners, read: Hatake Kakashi), eating ready-made ramen, and leaving his home.

Glasses and Mustache would be safe from his pranks for now, as he had no idea _why_ he wanted to prank the two. With that in mind, Naruto made his way to the bridge.

* * *

When he got there, Naruto muttered a curse word under his breath. He was so late, even _Kakashi-sensei_ was waiting for him!

"Naruto! Where were you, you idiot?!" Sakura huffed and Naruto had to remind himself that this was not _his_ Sakura. His Sakura was a strong kunioichi who was kind to him, not a whiny fangirl, who hated his very existence.

Thinking quickly, he pulled a Kakashi. "Sakura-chaaaan, I got lost on the way of life," he sheepishly chuckled and dodged a punch from her. She looked dazed for a moment before realizing what happened. _Naruto had dodged her punch and he never did nor could do that._

Sasuke gave him a deadpanned look (Naruto had to physically restrain himself from attacking the bastard in his glory) while Sakura looked at him in awe. Kakashi was the only one who remained the same, with his laid back demeanor.

"Ano, Naruto," Kakashi began in his almost-condescending-but-not-really way, "what exactly are you wearing?" Granted, he _had_ told his genin to dress in all black, a complete change for Naruto and Sakura as one wore a horrendous shade of burnt orange while the other wore reddish pink, but he didn't mean _all black._

The Rokudaime knew he had to dumb down his intelligence so he stuck a finger in his ear and grinned so widely, his eyes turned into slits and his mouth stretched from ear to ear.

"Kaka-sensei, I'm a ninja now! I have to dress like one, too, dattebayo!"

Kakashi sweat dropped and calmly asked Naruto, "You do realize you've been a genin for about four months, right?" _But I've been a ninja longer than that, sensei, that's my ultimate prank._

" _Anyways,"_ Kakashi stressed the word. "How've you been holding up, Naruto?"

"Ne, what do you mean, sensei?"

"What he means, _dobe,"_ Sasuke began, although the word didn't have as much contempt as _his_ Sasuke did, "is how are you after your first kill?" _First kill? I need to say something genin-Naruto would say, not Hokage-Naruto. Think, think, think!_

"I didn't feel anything." At this, Kakashi wondered if he should send Naruto to the Shinobi Psychologist- she was the one who dealt with questions like these if the teammates of a ninja couldn't help.

"What?" Sakura asked, shocked. "How could you _not_ feel anything?!"

"No, no, what I meant was, it didn't make me feel anyway. It wasn't satisfying but it wasn't something that made me sick either." Naruto pulled words out of his ass to clarify himself. He didn't even know the situation, but intuition was telling him to keep on speaking, so he continued. "It was either you guys or them, and I chose to defend you. We're ninja, Sakura-chan, this is what we do."

While Kakashi and Sakura looked satisfied with his answer, Sasuke did not. With the glance he sent Naruto's way, the future Hokage knew his former best friend wanted to talk to him and would seek him out.

"As long as you're okay," Kakashi-sensei spoke up, breaking the tense atmosphere. "If you do need to talk, Naruto, we're here for you."

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei, I know."

"Good," his eye turned to an upside down u at his smiling expression. "Meet me at Training Ground 7 within five minutes, last one will have to do twenty five laps around the village with Guy and Lee after the entire team does one hour worth of suicides on the hot springs."

"Hey!" Sakura began as Kakashi disappeared. "We'll have to do the suicides anyways, that's unfair!"

"The laps should be initiative for you not be the last one, Sakura-chan," Naruto dignified her with a response (as opposed to Sasuke, who started running as soon as Kakashi-sensei disappeared) and began running towards the training ground.

"Since when does Naruto use words like 'initiative'?" Sakura muttered to herself in wonder as she, too, ran towards the training ground.

* * *

 **Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza to all those celebrating! This update was really random as I got the inspiration in the middle of a freaking tornado warning/touchdown and continued typing for a good five hours.**

 **As it is with my other stories, this one does not follow an outline or anything. All updates are straight from my brain, with no future thought bunnies running around in my head. I usually type up a long ass chapter and _then_ look at where I want the story to go. So, I'm basically telling you all I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted because I don't even know when I'll type it. **

**anyways, HAVE A GREAT 2015 AND FINISH IT WITH A BANG, BE IT A QUIET BANG (LIKE READING IN YOUR ROOM WITH YOUR FUZZY SOCKS ON) OR A LOUD BANG (LIKE IDK, JUMPING OFF A MOUNTAIN WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER), I HOPE 2015 WAS WORTH IT.**

 **take 2016 by the horns and make it yours, my friends.**

posted: 12/27/15


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